[This came to [email removed], looks like it was
meant for [email removed]. Watch those automatic reply
headers. BTW, enjoyable and very humorous article! Oh, and everyone
have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Yes, I'll still be kicking
around the mail spool over break) -- James]
ENDURANCE
Mission endurance obviously depends on opperational level.
There are three levels of opperational activity; these levels
are common to ALL GAMES, not merely the Eight Worlds. These
levels are as follows:
1) Tactical. The ship is engaged in actual combat; it is
under acceleration, weapons are being fired, shields (if any) are
up, sensors are active, crew is running from place to place in
an excited and agitated fashion as the ship crumbles to bits.
2) Strategic. The ship is not engaged in actual combat; it
either on station or it is in transit in a fashion calulated to
maximize endurance, weapons are secured, shields (if any) are down,
sensors are running in a passive mode, and the crew is cruising
around looking for dates.
3) Derelict. The ships drifts, lifeless and inert, utterly
empty except for the evil power that destroyed it, which power
STILL WAITS to... but I digress.
Intermediate opperational levels are certainly possible. A
vessel on blockade duty (or a carrier performing flight ops in
Southeast Asia) might occupy a level intermediate between Tactical
and Strategic. My old MGB frequently occupied a level intermediate
between Strategic and Derelict, which is three successive car thieves
were unable to make off with it. Why, they wondered, didn't it start?
The fools, the cylinder head assembly on the passenger seat should
have been a clue. But again I digress... where was I... oh yes:
All three of these opperational states are extremely important
in a Role Playing Game.
Tactical endurance is a crucial aspect of combat. PCs who do not
know the combat endurance of their ship will routinely run out of fuel
at inappropriate moments. They will then die, to the dismay of their
players, who will have to roll up new characters. If this happens on a
frequent basis, the players will have to roll their dice so many times
that the corners will wear off. The dice will then tend to roll off the
table and under the sofa, a frustrating occurance.
Strategic endurance limits the range and duration of missions.
PCs who exceed these limits will run out of fuel and die, to the dismay
of... but you've heard this already.
Derelict endurance determines just how long wrecks can be expected
to last. This is important because every self-respecting RPG has a few
derelict vessels which drift, dark, cold, Empty Except For The Evil Power,
Etc. Many non-self-respecting RPGs will also contain such items. If
adandoned ships generally fall out of orbit after a few years (or more
likely, drift off into deep space on hyperbolic trajectories on which
they are unlikley to be found), then a truly ancient wreck is BIG NEWS.
It is implausible. The PC's may become suspicious. They might well
detect the Evil Power, Etc. before it is too late. If, on the other hand,
ancient wrecks are commonplace, no one will ever bother to explore them.
In either situation, the Evil Power, Etc. that the GM has worked so long
and hard to create will be wasted, a sorry fate. For this reason, the
GM will wish to arrange matters so that ancient wrecks, while plausible,
are also rare enough to be tantalizing.
The situation in the Eight Worlds:
The Eight Worlds, as I have suggested before, is an abysmally low
tech universe. Even today, we can build spacecraft that in many
respects are superior to those used in the Eight Worlds. (They are also
much more expensive and do not have hyperdrive. These can only be
considered to be flaws).
The Tactical Endurance of Eight Worlds ships is measured in hours.
In order to economize on hours (a valuable substance), it is sometimes
even measured in fractions of an hour. The chief reason for this
limitation is fuel, which is consumed at a discouraging rate. Another
reason is the crew, who tend to die, after which they can no longer
opperate the ship or repair damage.
The Strategic Endurance of Eight Worlds ships is measured in days.
The superficial source of this limitation is the lifesystem: after a week
or so, the air begins to smell bad, the output of the food machines is
indistinguishable from the input to the waste reprocessing facility,
and the walls become a garden to delight any connoiseur of fungii. More
capable lifesystems are possible. These are also prohibatively expensive
and do not address the more fundamental limitation of volume: Eight Worlds
ships are very small, not much larger than a modern airliner. Would YOU
want to live aboard a modern airliner for more than a week? If your
answer is yes, go to the local video store, rent a copy of DAS BOOT, watch
it, and think again.
The Derelict Endurance of Eight Worlds ships is, of course, quite
long. These ships are not going to evaporate, they are made out of nice
durable materials such as steel (Why not? It's cheap and it doen't burn.
These are valuable characteristics. Oh, there may also be an aeroshell
of some refractory material but this is a cosmetic item: it merely
insures that the vessel does not become disfigured during re-entry).
On the other hand, they are not likely to remain where they can be
found. Since most ship opperations (and all combat) are conducted at
speeds greater than typical planetary escape velocities, derelicts
tend to spin off into interplanetary or interstellar space. The
detection range of Eight Worlds sensors is a paltry 300,000 km or so.
Interplanetary space is somewhat larger than this.
The discerning individual will wonder why I chose such endurance
limits. He or she will wonder on what physical justification these
limits are based. The answer is simple:
I am, of course, far to lazy and unimaginative to create a truly
civilization. I therefore elected to take a historical civilization and
transpose its culture and technology into SF terms. But I did not wish
to chose a well-known civilization lest my players exclaim, "My my, Gazis
has based this culture on the aboriginal societies of Papua, New Guinea,"
and laugh at me. Fortunately, I have long been fascinated by the
civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean. These civilizations were
defined by their shipping, which shipping had important limitations.
(These civilizations also were centered around self-sufficient city-states,
which are a good analogue for planetary states.) It was a simple matter
to devise specific impulses, specific power outputs, and reactor
efficiencies so that Eight Worlds shipping had analogous limitations.
Unfortunately... I goofed. There is another historical
civilization which placed great importance on its navies, and possessed
ships with endurances such as I have described:
European civilization at the turn of the century.
Space 1909. Ick.
The two messages are, as always:
1) Opperating limitations, like every thing else in a game, should
be consitent with the kind of campaign the GM wants to run.
2) I forgot what the second message was
Cap'n Paul
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